Theresa Knox

Download images to folder on desktop;
Import images from this folder to Lightroom;
DO REMOVE OR TRASH THIS FOLDER UNTIL U HAVE FINISHED YOUR PROJECT IN LIGHTROOM AND STORED IMAGES ON AN EXTERNAL DRIVE.

wrangler5 Loc: Missouri

I found this surprising, so took a few shots and loaded 'em from the card onto my Mac Mini using iPhoto. They showed up fine in iPhoto, but I couldn't even find the directory where they were actually stored (and I consider myself pretty good with Finder, as I use it constantly.) Had to use Export from iPhoto to another folder I created, and then I could import (Add) to LR by pointing it to the new folder.

If I could have found the actual directory where iPhoto kept things I should think it would be discoverable in the LR source stack on the left side of the Import screen. Although as an ongoing matter I would want to put the photos in a folder structure I create (new folder for each year, with a subfolder structure under the year for named for individual events - that's just my preference.) My normal LR Import process is to bring everything from a card into a single folder (Initial Import - I was feeling very creative when I made up that name, back in the LR1 days). That's where I do the preliminary culling, add any keywords, and then move the files to their destination folders.

al13

I had the same issue and finally made it work on my Mac. Now I have the folders on my desktop. Where can I move them to so they don’t sit on my desk top. Just learning Apple.

mikebevans1

Thanks everyone for all your help. Very helpful!!

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

Now, BE CAREFUL. If your photos were imported originally into Photos on your Mac, you'll probably have better luck copying them than moving them, but either way, that's one at a time... impractical.

The smart thing to do is to open Photos, and select all the files you want to export (or a range of them). Then go to File > Export > Export Unmodified Originals for (##) Originals... from Photos to another location on your drive.

If you really must know where your original files are located (at least, those imported by Photos):

Start by opening the Pictures directory (folder). RIGHT CLICK or Control click on Photos Library.photoslibrary. Choose the option to Show Package Contents. Your images are in the Masters folder, in Date (year) folders, in numbered Month folders, in dated and serialized folders. (Whew!)

WARNING: Monkeying around with the Package Contents of a file like this can really wreak havoc on that data and that application.

Many pros simply tell their Macs to make Lightroom the default application for importing photo files. This is done with Lightroom > Preferences > "Show import dialog when a memory card is detected". Also, go to Photos > Preferences > General and UNCHECK "Copy Items to the Photos Library".